The Strangers We Hide
by Aveangeladarkangel
Summary: AU. Izumixoc Everyone has a mask, they try to keep their masks safe for as long as possible. But sometimes those masks break in front of the people we love. Sometimes, we have to take them off and be honest with our feelings. Rated T for language and some partial nudity
1. Chapter 1: Welcome Riko

**I should really stop doing this. I get inspiration on a whim write one or two chapters and then people are disappointed by the sudden drop of inspiration. Although I always manage to finish the stories one way or another ^.^. So I was reading Full moon again (what is this my sixth time? (Would be more but I only own 5 volumes)) Anyway and I came on here and found allot of Meroko X Izumi. That's fine but I have to ask, am I the only one who like Mitsuki X Izumi? I think they are pretty cute together. BUT THIS FIC ISN'T Mitsuki X Izumi! No, in fact it's an OC X Izumi because I LOVE IZUMI! He's one of my favvy favs so HA. So after that long shpeal here's the gist of what this is so it isn't confusing. 1) This is technically an alternate reality (cause I can mwa hahahahahahahahaha) Takuto, Meroko, Izumi, Mitsuki, and even (EW) Eichi are going to high school together. 2) I don't actually know who I'm going to pair who with (except for Izumi of course (Course plans have a tendency to change)) 3) I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING! (Someone stop me!) Anyway without further ado hears my story (holy cow… it doesn't have title… and my character doesn't have a name personality or anything…. Can you tell this is completely on a whim?) Wait all the girls' names start with M… That's something to work with .Evil smile. **

Family, you can't live with them, but you can't live without them. But there are times one truly feels like killing their family. Moriko (known to the common enemy as Riko) was no exception on this particular morning. Given of course, I'm sure you would also like to kill their brother if they dumped you into the pool first thing in the morning on a chilly fall morning.

"I'll kill you Ryu!" Riko roared as she yanked herself out of the freezing pool water, detangling her bedding from her feet and letting them float to the bottom of the pool.

"You have to catch me first Riko!" Her younger brother shouted back as he ran away from her into the house. Riko lunged after him but he slammed the backdoor closed. Before she even reached the doorknob she heard the evil _click_ of the lock being put into place. She tried to open the door anyway but to no avail.

"You little squirt! Open this damn door!" Riko yelled, she could hear her brother sniggering as he ran away, probably to go back to bed, the beast. "Ryu!" Riko screamed, but the boy didn't come back. In her agitation Riko kicked the door hard before walking back to the pool and flopping onto one of the beach chairs. She took a hold of her nightshirt and wrung it out the best she could. The water slopped onto the browning grass, the chlorine would probably kill that spot for good but Riko couldn't care less. She stared at her bed sheets and blankets as they floated cruelly beneath the waves, as her eyes adjusted to the shadows Riko recognized her three favorite stuffed animals also under the water. With a growl Riko stood up and yanked her soaked through night shirt off before pulling her pants off as well.

Given it was only dawn Riko was sure the new neighbors wouldn't glance out their windows to see her in only her bra and panties. With a deep breath Riko jumped into the water, squeezing her eyes shut so she wouldn't have the chlorine sting them. Blindly she reached down for any feeling on cloth. Her fingers curled around her thick comforter. Using all her strength she pulled the heavy cloth up she broke through the water and managed to climb out of the pool with the blanket in tow. She yanked it out and left it by the pool side. She continued to do this until all that was left was her Rabbit doll. Riko took another deep breath and dived back under the waves, the force of the dive moved her bra strap down her arm but she ignored it as she reached through the darkness. Her hands found her rabbit; she pulled herself up for the last time. She broke the surface with a gasp and chucked the rabbit doll beside her other belongings. Riko pulled herself up and knelt next to the pool to let her self breath. Riko glanced up to see movement in her bedroom's window, and then there was a flash. Riko's mouth dropped in horror and fury as her brother Ryo laughed, a camera in hand.

"You little…!" Riko began to shout; the backlights turned on and flooded the backyard with light. Riko's mom opened the backdoor.

"Moriko! What on earth are you doing?" Riko's mother yelled Riko glared back, "Get in the house this instant!" Riko grabbed her discarded pajamas and bedding and rushed into the house, her mother slammed to door closed behind her.

"What is this? I understand you didn't want to move but getting naked and swimming where the neighbors can see you is disgraceful!" Riko's mother screamed Riko rolled her eyes.

"Look, I didn't want to be in the frikken pool either. Ryu chucked me in." Riko argued back. Her mother's eyes flashed and the next thing Riko knew was that she was on the ground, her nose trickling blood. Her mother glared heatedly down at her daughter.

"Don't bring your brother into this. One he would never do such a thing he is an angel, unlike you. Also how could he have dragged you from upstairs to down here? He's half your size."

"Yeah well the pint has the ability!" Riko snapped back holding her now gushing nose. Her mother's eyes flashed again, but before she could do anything more to her daughter, Ryu slumped down the stairs rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Momma? What's going on? Why is Riko in her underwear?" He asked as if he had just woken up. A surge of anger sprung through Riko's stomach.

"Its nothing baby," Her mother leaned down to rub her son's hair, "Your sister is just being bad is all, now go back to sleep, mommy's taking care of it." Ryu nodded and began to walk back upstairs, but smirked evilly at Riko before he disappeared. Riko growled, ready to go attack her brother at any moment. Her mother turned to her, her expression furious.

"You're horrible, waking your brother up at this time," her mother hissed, Riko would have snorted if the blood wasn't so bad, "Now get out, I don't want you bleeding on the carpet." Riko didn't need to be told twice; she jumped up the stairs and went straight to her brother's room. His door wouldn't budge, Riko cursed. Of course he would get the room that had a lock, or he would get a lock for his room. Either way it was frustrating.

"Ryu! What the hell are you going to do with that picture!" Riko shouted, her voice coming out nasally. She could hear her brother chuckle.

"You'll see, It's nice and sexy too, who knows who will want it," Her brother said, his voice low and dangerous. Riko slammed her fist against the door in anger before going to the bathroom that was down the hall.

She put half a roll of toilet paper up against her face and hoped the bleeding would stop soon. She rolled the options around and around her mind. They had just moved into this neighborhood, so there was nothing he could really do to blackmail her. Riko's eyes narrowed in frustration. There wasn't much she could do but follow her brother's advice, wait and see what he was going to do with it. Whatever it was, Riko was sure it was going to be bad.

"Damn it," She hissed.

It was wrong, it was all so wrong. Why did she have to move? Why did she have to be stuck with her mom and brother? Why did they have to move to a house with a freaking pool? Riko hissed again in her anger. She looked down the hall where boxes and boxes were lined up waiting for her mom to unpack them; the sight only irked Riko more.

When her nose finally stopped bleeding Riko growled. She could smell the chlorine in her underwear, and she didn't have any unpacked to change into for the first day of school today.

School, Riko had never looked forward to the form of hell and now that she was in a completely new area she was sure things would only get worse. Riko climbed into bed and snuggled into a lone sheet Ryu had missed and tried to go back to sleep. But by then she was wide awake, sleep was impossible.

Riko finally got up when the sunshine entered her room, telling her she should get ready for "school". Riko had set aside some clothes the other day so that they wouldn't get packed up with her other items of clothing. A shriek of irritation erupted from her when she saw them.

Ryu hadn't taken off his shoes after he had dumped her into the pool muddy footprints were all over her floor from when he took the picture. But more importantly, were the easily distinguished footprints on her white collared shirt and red skirt that had been at the foot of her bed. It looked like Ryu and jumped and danced all of the cloths, and since it was Ryu, Riko had no doubt that he had done just that. Riko couldn't wear the cloths she wore the day before, traveling in them all day left them wrinkled and smelling like sweat. Her pajama's although were flattering and looked every day-ish were still not only soaked but smelled strongly of chlorine. Riko brushed as much of the dirt off her shirt and skirt before slipping them on. It had been her school outfit from her last area, she didn't know if the new school had a specific outfit or not but Riko didn't care. It wasn't like she was going to class the first day anyway, get enrolled but that was basically it.

Riko rung out her brown hair before putting it into a braid that flopped loosely below her waist.

"I should cut it," She muttered as she stared at her expression. Her strange red eyes glared back, a bruise was showing up where her mother had hit her the night before against her pale complexion. Her thin heart shaped face was set in a look of angry determination.

"Moriko, I am not going to wait all day!" Her mother shouted from the basement. Riko sighed; she patted her bangs, trying to place the longer ones close to the bruise to make it look like a shadow. She stuck her tongue out at her reflection before heading downstairs to where her mother and brother waited.

"Oh Moriko, couldn't you have worn a clean shirt? Why can't you be more like Ryu?" Riko glared at her brother who smiled back sickeningly sweet, he also wore his old school's uniform, but it wasn't just clean and white, but pressed to perfection. Riko planned to kick his perfect white butt before they split ways to ensure a huge muddy footprint was left there.

As soon as they were out of the house Riko's mother turned to her and gave her a small envelope and a piece of paper.

"The schools address, entrance fee. Get signed up, I don't actually care, just get it done," She snapped. Riko took the paper and envelope and watched as her mom jumped into the car. Before Ryu entered the car though (and while her mom's back was turned,) Riko stamped into a particularly muddy spot before kicking Ryu's backside. She was satisfied to see a perfect imprint of her foot was left; making it look like the little angel pooped his pants. Before Ryu could react Riko bolted down the walkway and down the street, she read the address quickly, she stared at street signs as she passed them, good she was going in the right direction.

She slowed to a walk and looked around herself. The neighborhood wasn't too bad, it was pretty enough anyway. Riko glanced at a car as it passed by; she felt anger boil up as her brother waved at her with a smirk.

"So our schools are in the same direction, but I have to walk eh?" she half muttered to herself. She then raised her voice to a shout "You are so going to get it you little squirt!" But the car merely drove farther away.

"Get back in here and explain yourself!" Riko froze as a shrill voice shrieked,

"Shut up! I'm going to school!" A male voice answered, just as angry. A boy about Riko's age stomped up out of a gateway covered in vines and slammed the gate door shut. He stood there silently seething. Riko wondered if there was a way to walk around him without him noticing her. He had blonde hair; it hid his eyes as he stared at the ground. He was tall; he wore a yellow shirt and black pants. Riko wondered if he intentionally dressed like a bumble bee. She took a slow step towards the street, intending to walk around him. His head snapped up to look at her. Riko's eyes met with furious golden ones. Almost instinctively Riko looked away to look across the street.

"What are you looking at?" The boy snarled. Riko felt a twinge of annoyance.

"Oh, walking down a public street," She answered, letting herself meet the boy's eyes again. "Is that a sin?" A look of irritation crossed over the boy's features when suddenly he stopped, his eyes searching Riko's face before he turned away and walked down the street. _That wasn't creepy at all_ Riko thought to herself as she continued down the street. She was aware that the boy kept glancing back at her and began chanting in her head every time they came to a side road _turn turn turn turn_ but of course he never did.

"Are you following me?" He finally snapped looking back at her, Riko heard herself laugh humorlessly.

"Yeah right. I'm sorry sir but it just so happens that the two of us are going in the same direction. If it would make you feel better for me to walk in front of you then fine," Riko answered, she was surprised when the boy stopped and waited for her to pass him before he kept walking. _Okay, whatever floats your boat_ she thought to her self before she glanced back at the address in her hand. According to the street signs around her she had to just keep going straight.

Riko found herself surprised, and angered to see that her brother's middle school stood right next to her high school. Her face burned with the fury but it subsided when she saw little Mr. Perfect standing with his back to the car, he looked miserable. Riko had forgotten about the foot print, she felt herself snicker. Ryu looked over at her.

"Riko! Mom is so mad at you!" Ryu screamed his face turned red from the effort. Riko snorted, since when was that news? Riko ignored her brother and kept walking. She didn't even want to think about what her mom was going to do this time though. Her hand involuntarily touched the bruise, anger swelled up inside her again this time she took off running to the high school. She heard her brother start screaming and glanced back to see her mother running up to her baby.

"Moriko Anne Sayura! How dare you hit your brother!" Riko heard her scream. Riko rolled her eyes. Of course he wouldn't let her get away easily. But hitting him self and blaming her? How childish could you get? It was then that she remembered the tall angry blonde behind her. She groaned _that's just perfect isn't it?_ She thought angrily. She glanced back after she entered the school's doors. Sure enough he was walking towards the school too.

"With my luck, he'll be in my classes too," She muttered as she walked to the office. She pushed the door open. The office was stiffly silent, a secretary at a desk looked up.

"Can I help you?" the pinched face asked, Riko shook her head to clear it, which the secretary took as a shake of the head no. "Then get back to class!" She snapped. Riko felt a twinge of annoyance. She walked up to the secretary's desk and dropped the envelope onto the old lady's hand she watched with satisfaction when she yelped from the sudden weight of coins. She glared up at Riko as the girl folded her arms under her large chest in an act of almost defiance.

"I'm Moriko Anne Sayura; I'm a new student starting today," Riko said, a smirk curled her lips. The old lady actually weighed the envelope in her hands before she wrote something down on a piece of paper.

"Alright Ms. Sayura, but your counselor isn't in yet, you will have to wait for him to come. Please have a seat," the lady indicated a few chairs and couches that were neatly arranged farther into the office. Riko walked to a chair and flopped into it without a care. The shrew of a lady looked at her disapprovingly but returned to her work. Riko started chewing on the end of her braid absently as she zoned out staring at the boring pinkish white wall. It reminded her of a hospital room, how the color seemed to say "Don't panic! We're only extracting your brain!" Riko felt herself chuckle at her own joke.

Riko must have dozed off because she was suddenly jolted awake by the office door slamming open. She sat up quickly, half expecting to see Ryu brandishing her naked picture. Instead she saw a teacher hauling two teens into the room. The teacher pointed angrily at the area Riko sat at. She watched as the two boys slumped into two chairs facing each other. They didn't stop glaring at each other. Riko slowly sunk in her own chair, recognizing the tall angry blonde. The boy across from him had dark brown hair and fierce gray eyes.

"This is your fault Izumi," The dark haired one said angrily,

"Shut up Takuto," Izumi responded, his expression void of emotion. He turned away from Takuto and noticed Riko. "You again?" He said his blank demeanor slipping. Riko felt another twinge of annoyance at his tone.

"Oh fancy that. The guy who owns a public street turns into a good for nothing delinquent?" Riko smiled sweetly, "How typical," Izumi jumped up, his teeth grinding together. Riko's eyes narrowed, whatever she just said hit him a bit close to home, she could tell. Takuto was watching her with wide eyes, as if he was wondering who this bitch was driving Izumi crazy. But before anyone could react a tall, handsome man walked up to them.

"Ms. Sayura?" He asked as he looked past the teens to look at her. Riko didn't feel like pretending to be cheerful to see the counselor, even if he was good looking.

"What?" Riko asked sounding bored, the man smiled, and despite herself, Riko blushed.

"I am Keiichi Wakaoji; I'll be your counselor for the rest of the year. Do you have a parent with you?" He glanced around, Riko snorted.

"Yeah, she's over at the middle school," Riko answered as she played with a piece of hair that had found its way out of her braid.

"Should we wait for her?" Wakaoji asked, looking concerned. Riko stood up with a shake of her head.

"Why bother? It's not like she's going to come over her for me or anything." Riko walked past the two boys, Takuto now seemed bored with her existence and had gone back to glaring at Izumi. But Izumi on the other hand wasn't taking his eyes off of her. Riko couldn't read his expression for the life of her but it didn't matter. Wakaoji led her to an office where he sat down at a computer.

"So, where are you from Ms. Sayura?" He began absently. Riko settled into a huge chair preparing for a long list of questions.

"Please, call me Riko, Everyone calls me Riko," Mariko said, Wakaoji nodded

"Alright then Riko, Where did you say you are from?" He seemed almost bored, Riko smirked.

"I'm from here and there, we haven't really stayed in one place," Riko answered,

"Oh?" Wakaoji looked interested by this, "Is it hard coming to a new school,"

"How bout we just cross out the "a" and "new" and every teenager will answer yes." Riko said, her smirk slowly falling, she was beginning to feel bored.

"Any siblings?" Wakaoji asked,

"One brat of a brother," Riko answered, she began twirling her hair around her fingers, this questioning was getting a little irksome.

"And your parents? What do they do?" Wakaoji smiled a friendly smile, but Riko had reached her limit of personal questions.

"So what classes can I still take? I know I'm a bit late coming into the school year so I don't know what's open, or required for that matter." Riko said stiffly, Wakaoji seemed to sense her change in attitude almost immediately, surprisingly he didn't press.

"Very well," He smiled gently, Riko felt herself blush again at the kindness in the smile, "Let's look at your options shall we?"

By the time they got everything in order for her the end of school bell had rung.

"Thank you Mr. Wakaoji," Riko said quickly as she stood up and stretched her legs. "I'll be going now,"

"Hey Riko!" Wakaoji called as he hastily stood up onto his feet, Riko glanced back at him. "If you ever need to talk to someone I'll be here." He smiled his smile. Riko found herself smiling back.

"Thank you Mr. Wakaoji," Riko said before she ducked out of his office and then out of the office in general. A few stragglers still littered the halls as Riko walked to the front door of the school. She lifted her hand to open the door before freezing. She could see her mother's car waiting for her out front. Ryu was smirking in the back seat. Riko grinded her teeth together her hand began to involuntarily shake. Last night had been one of the better nights, if her mom got physically angry again it could be worse if she was fully awake.

"There are other doors you know," an almost annoyed sounding voice said behind her, Riko didn't even look, she recognized the voice as Izumi's or Takuto's, but it was safer to bet it was Izumi. Riko turned to see the blonde glaring at her, she found herself smiling at him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to be in the way." She turned back to the door and allowed herself to push the door open, forcing her expression as blank as she could make it. Her mother stepped out of the car,

"Get in the car now young lady!" She shouted her anger evident. Riko shrugged indifferently before sliding into the passenger seat, knowing her mom wouldn't let her sit in the back. Riko saw Izumi slowly walk out of the school, his eyes on the Blue car that Riko now sat in. She almost felt like waving to him. Before she could turn her head to fully look at him though she felt her mom slap her cheek, and again.

"How dare you, Humiliating your brother and then punching him in the face? What kind of monster are you?" Riko felt herself flinch involuntarily. Her mom started the car and drove off. Riko forced herself to look out the window not allowing her self to cry. Her eyes met Izumi's golden ones, she felt herself flush, knowing he had seen her mother hit her. She stuck her tongue out at him; he looked taken aback before a look of irritation spread over his eyes. Riko smirked. _Actually _She reasoned with herself _He seems like he's going to be fun to tease, he gets irritated so easily_. Riko smiled with that possibility, school might actually be fun this time.

-Chapter 1 end-

**What did I just write? I have no idea, but I want to keep writing so we'll see. I hope you liked it even though it was completely out of no where. I think I like Moriko/Riko, I did have it as Moriko the whole time except it sounded too much like Meroko so she goes by Riko so hopefully this won't be confusing. She is a lot feistier then my other characters even though she's a whole lot weaker than my other characters. She still looks like everyone else though. Oh well. Ave out. Word fixed something strangely and I don't want to find it to fix it. cya**


	2. Chapter 2: Riko's First Day

**Although this story was a whim, I would like some criticism. Nudge nudge hint hint. Anyway, I've thought about what I want to do with this story And I notice all the things I think about it sounds like Kodocha, So, I've decided to just write it for better or for worse. So, Here's chapter two… I hope you like and hope you *cough* leave a comment *cough***

Riko awoke the next morning with a sneeze which ruptured into a bloody nose.

"Great," She hissed as she shot out of bed and ran to the bathroom to shove toilet paper up her nostril. Riko scratched her arms and was upset to see itchy bumps appearing on her pale arms from the chlorine. Riko's bedding had been hung up to dry and put back on her bed without washing the disgusting stuff out. Riko had been itchy all night and had hardly slept. Riko ran water over her arms in an attempt to wash the chlorine off.

As soon as her nose stopped bleeding Riko grabbed a clump of her hair and sniffed it. Chlorine, even after her forty five minute scrubbing session the night before, her hair still smelled like chlorine. Riko growled before she went back to her room and got ready for the day.  
Riko was happy she wasn't required to wear a school uniform this time but she felt annoyed that she couldn't find any clothes to wear at all. Riko opened all three of her boxes and dumped the contents onto her floor. Papers nick knacks, toys, and jewelry littered the floor, but she couldn't find any of her clothes. Except for: her pajamas her old schools outfit, and the clothes she had traveled in, a skin tight black shirt with a low v-neck and a pair of pants with so many rips in them they were too uncomfortable to wear.

Riko jumped over her things as she went to the hall and shouted down the stairway.

"Hey mom, where are my clothes?" Riko shouted,

"We didn't have enough room to bring some of your things, we probably left them back at the old house," Her mother's calmly cold voice answered. Riko felt her fingers claw at the railing as a surge of anger stabbed at her stomach.

"Then what the hell am I supposed to wear…" Riko growled before turning to go back into her room.

"Did you leave my stuff?" she could hear Ryu's horrified voice ask,

"Of course not sweetie, we packed your stuff first. Your procrastinating sister didn't pack until the last moment," Her mother said in an overly sweet voice. Riko slammed her door shut and made a face.

"I didn't even pack; you packed for me because I was in school." She muttered under her breath. Riko stared at her few meager clothes on the ground and debated what to do. The black shirt would have to do but she didn't want to wear her old school skirt with it. Riko sized the pair of holy pants up, she found a pair of scissors in her belongings and snipped both the legs of the pants at the highest rips before ripping them the rest of the way. She then put them on and slipped her black shirt on. Finding her old messenger bag Riko shoved a notebook, her sketchbook and a bunch of pens and pencils into it. She then dug around her things finding any extra coins or cash that had been shoved randomly into jewelry boxes, notebooks, books through the years. She shoved about forty five dollars worth of change into her pocket before she stumbled out of her room and downstairs.

Ryu sat at the table finishing what looked like a breakfast set for a king. Riko's mother looked at Riko's outfit with a disapproving sneer. Riko ignored her mother while she looked for a mug in the boxes set out all over the kitchen. She finally found one with a Kitten on the side. Riko stopped short when she found it; slowly she traced the picture with her finger before she grabbed the coffee pot and poured herself a cup. Riko noticed that Ryu was watching her so she very maturely stuck her tongue out at him.

"Your hair's a mess," Ryu commented almost sweetly, Riko rolled her eyes but she swallowed her cup of coffee before running back upstairs to do something about it.  
Riko brushed through the tangles quickly before tossing it into a bun of sorts. She looked at her reflection resentfully before going back downstairs to the front door.

"I'm leaving now," Riko said shortly as she shoved her feet into her shoes. She felt her pocket full of change bounce against her thigh as she jumped up and froze when it jingled. When her family didn't react Riko sighed and left through the door. Quickly she walked away and when she was out of sight of her house Riko dropped onto her knees and pulled her change out of her pocket and shoved it into her bag.

"There," She said as she stood back up, Riko began to walk her way to school looking around herself this time instead of watching the street signs.

The area she lived in was full of big, expensive looking houses. But as she walked and moved closer and closer to the school Riko noticed that the houses became more dingy, run down.

"We must live on the edge of Snot-Ville and Slums…" Riko said muttered as she walked.  
She had just come into view of the school when she heard the first bell ring.

"Shit!" She cursed under her breath as she bolted the rest of the way to the school.

"Running late on the first day?" The shrewish secretary lady asked her as she breezed into the counseling office.

"Is Mr. Wakaoji in?" Riko asked ignoring the smirk the lady was giving her. The woman rolled her eyes.

"Please, He is Dr. Wakaoji to you missy. Got that? DR. Wakaoji," The woman stressed, her nasally voice grating on Riko's nerves.

"Yeah, whatever, is Dr. Wakaoji in?" Riko asked straining her voice into an imitation of the secretary's annoying voice. The woman twitched before nodding stiffly. Riko didn't wait to walk quickly into Wakaoji's office; Dr. Wakaoji looked up at her before smiling.

"Hey! I was wondering when my favorite person would show up today," He said, despite herself Riko blushed.

"Hey," Riko said shyly as she self consciously pushed her bangs out of her eyes. "Did you get my schedule printed?" she asked as she flopped into the chair right across from Dr. Wakaoji. The handsome man kept smiling as he nodded and pulled out a piece of paper out of a folder on his desk and handed it over to Riko.

"First Period P.E." Riko groaned; Dr. Wakaoji's smile stayed kind although his eyes seemed to grow puzzled as Riko ran scenarios through her mind.

Riko never had been one for sports. At her last school she had fallen over once and ended up spraining her ankle. She was light weight so thrown easily and had no muscle to speak of so her team always lost cause the "little weak girly girl" had no ability what so ever. Riko sighed as she tugged a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Is there a problem?" Wakaoji asked; Riko looked up at the man as he glanced at the schedule in her hand then to her face. Riko rolled her eyes.

"First period PE," she repeated, before sticking her tongue out. "Ew," Wakaoji laughed before shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, but there was only one opening in a PE credit class." Dr. Wakaoji said still chuckling. "It's a rough class, but I think you can handle it," He said with a wink.

"Sounds... great..." she said as she tried to make a scenario in her mind that didn't end up with her in full body cast in the hospital, she failed of course. Dr. Wakaoji wrote something on a slip of paper before handing it to Riko.

"Here, this will excuse you from being late, but be sure to be on time the rest of this week," Wakaoji smiled again at Riko as she stood up and headed to the door.

Riko glanced at the room number she was supposed to find, she found it without too much trouble. But when she poked her head in expecting to see a bunch of girls shooting hoops or doing archery she was surprised by what she did see.

The class was filled with both girls and boys, and they were waltzing.

**YAY! I've had this chapter done for a couple of weeks and kept trying to write more to it. And it wasn't working, SO…. I ended it here and then planned to move on next chapter. Of course I keep wanting to go through it and change it to 1****st**** person, but I don't know if I really really want to do that. SO we'll see what happens**


	3. Remember me? Don't get excited

Hey Guys

So I've been in kind of a rut lately and have only just started writing again. So I composed a poll on my profile to see what you guys think I should update first. (For some reason it doesn't seem to be showing up…. Meh electronics hate me (Why u majoring in digital Media then?))

I look through some of my stories and cringe because they were written so badly (cough devil's eye cough). But others make me laugh and I'm excited to write more (The strangers we hide and Dewdrop's on Roses especially). I've stumbled upon many MANY starts on the next chapters (Love in strangest Packages, split, and Twelve Days of Christmas) And story splurges that take place in an arrangement of stories. So Really I have something to base what I'm going to do with my stories.

I really am sorry for the complete inconvenience I've been, it's interesting…. When you graduate from High school then realize that you actually need to have a life… meh… Anyway.

To those who actually read this thank you. Haha I've been so down lately. I have no job, not in school anymore, no social life, I feel like nobody likes me, and I'm trying to lose weight. Do the victory dance with me yall.

Well PM me if you have any questions concerns or just cause you want someone to talk to (Esther u lonely?) Love you guys for sticking with me (I opened this account when I was 13…. I'm now 19… wooooooow)

-Lots of love and hearts Esther ^.^

Edit: Oh my gosh... I was working on "The Strangers we hide" When the song "Hero by:Enrique Iglesias" Turned on Pandora and I almost started crying I was like "ITS RIKO'S AND IZUMI'S RELATIONSHIP!"

I think I just found a theme song for them.

I also like "All you wanted," by Michelle Branch. But "Hero" really affected my romantic heart.


	4. Chapter 3: Meetings

Riko didn't think; she just slammed the door closed before leaning against it, as if that were enough to keep the people she had seen inside, inside. She looked at her paper then at the door's number, yes, this was the right room. She looked at the clock in the hallway, then at the paper. Yes, it was also the right time; Riko read everything on her schedule as if it would give her some hint or clue about why there were kids dancing in her P.E. class.

First period P.E. … credit. Riko blinked, it didn't say just P.E. it said P.E. credit. Why didn't it have a name? Why did it only say P.E. credit? Riko's hand was shaking as she ran through the conversation she had just had with Dr. Wakaoji through her mind.

"_First Period P.E." Riko groaned;_

_"Is there a problem?" Wakaoji asked_

_"First period PE," she repeated, before sticking her tongue out. "Ew," Wakaoji laughed before shaking his head._

_"I'm sorry, but there was only one opening in a PE __credit class__." Dr. Wakaoji said still chuckling. "It's a tough class, but I think you can handle it," He said with a wink._

Riko's mouth dropped open. _He got me,_ Riko actually chuckled with realization. Dr. Wakaoji probably had taken in account how thin Riko was and put her into a dance class, something that didn't matter if she was small. And apparently ballroom was a P.E. credit. Riko found herself touched from Wakaoji's thoughtfulness; even though Riko had never tried to dance before, she had always thought it was stupid and wussy. On top of that she hated socializing let alone being in direct contact with people. Riko's eyes narrowed in agitation as she debated running away from the class and never coming back. She was so wrapped up in her escape plans she didn't notice when the door opened behind her.

"Umm," A voice suddenly said behind her, Riko jumped with a yelp before spinning around.

A girl stood in front of her, her hand rested lightly on the doorknob. She had beautiful long, brown hair and really pretty brown eyes. Riko could only stare at this person in wonder, It was like she was standing before a model...a model with a kind face, the girl smiled.

"Hey, Are you joining our class?" She asked, her voice was sweet, like her face, Riko swallowed unsurely. Before she could answer though, her schedule was pulled from her hand.

"Apparently, Micky," Riko spun around to see Izumi staring boredly at her schedule,

"Izumi! I was just sent to look for you," Micky (?) said brightly, she was suddenly beside Riko, her hands curled around Riko's arm. The dark haired girl led a stunned Riko towards the room. "My name's Mitsuki by the way." the brunette chirped.

"M-Moriko," Riko answered reflexively, even though the girl latched onto her arm intimidated Riko.

_She's too happy..._ Riko thought, Izumi followed them in, a strange smile on his face. Riko tried to focus on him, but there was no sign of the boy she had been irritating the day before_. He must have been having an off day,_ Riko thought with some disappointment. School was going to be boring... Well, if she could survive the dance class.

"Takuto! Meroko!" Mitsuki called to two of the students in class, the two teenagers turned at her call, they smiled at her brightly.

"Hey Mitsuki!" Then their eyes turned to Riko, she turned her eyes to the ground as the two studied her face then they turned to Mitsuki and then Izumi, as if searching for an explanation for Riko's presence.

"Who's she?" Takuto asked, he studied her, his eyebrows knitting together in curiosity. "You look familiar," he said slowly, Riko tried not to roll her eyes, but she failed.

"Yeah, we somewhat met in the counseling office yesterday," Riko said as she gently pulled her arm out of Mitsuki's grip, Takuto blinked with confusion.

"We did?"

"Don't you remember?" Izumi came up behind Riko and gently patted her head, "She called you a delinquent?" Riko glanced up at the blonde boy's face. There wasn't so much as a flicker of emotion but Riko suddenly knew. _No..._she thought to herself, _That smile is too fake to be his real feelings_, Riko remembered Takuto's reaction to Izumi getting annoyed at Riko. _He doesn't show his emotions?_

"Heeeeeeey," The pink haired girl was suddenly in front of the two of them waving her arms around angrily, "How long are you going to touch her Izumi?!" Izumi grinned at the girl before leaning his cheek against Riko's forehead.

"Why? Jealous?" He asked,

Meroko's face flushed a dark scarlet before she turned away with her nose stuck up in the air. Riko pushed Izumi away from her irritably,

"Keep away from me you damn jerk," Riko hissed,

"What did you say?!" Meroko turned back to Riko, her eyes flashing and her whole being slipped into defence mode at Riko's words.

"I called your boyfriend a jerk. What of it?" Riko snapped back, she didn't even wait for Meroko to respond as she turned away. "I'm outta here,"

She had taken only one step when she suddenly walked into someone's chest. She probably would have fallen over if the person hadn't grabbed onto her arms to steady her.

"Woah. Are you alright?" A soft, gentle voice said,

"Hello Eichi, how'd the meeting with the teacher go?" Mitsuki asked, Riko looked up at the boy she had run into, with surprise she stared at him.

Eichi was blonde and had a kind face, he and Mitsuki had similar aura's of kindness surrounding them. His gentle eyes stared at her with open surprise at Riko's sudden movement. Riko looked away, her face turning red.

"Sorry, wasn't looking where I was going," Riko muttered, without letting him respond she ducked away from them. Riko wasn't sure what to do now that she had escaped the group of friends so she headed straight to the back of the class where everyone had dropped their stuff. She dropped her messenger bag then plopped down pulling her knees up to her chin, watching her new classmates. Riko judged by the looks and glances she was getting, her classmates were intimidated by her.

"Alright you guys!," A pretty woman clapped at the group that Riko just escaped, "Enough chit chat and get back to practicing. We'll be working on these moves for the rest of the hour so don't slack off," The woman didn't seem to notice Riko, which was fine with her, if she could go through the whole class ignored then she'd consider herself accomplished. Mindlessly, Riko crumpled the late excuse note in her hand, knowing that it wouldn't matter all that much if she handed it in or not.

Riko managed to go throughout the entire class ignored by the teacher and most of the classmates. If anyone _did _glance her way, they would tend to look away very quickly, or glare at her. At one point her teacher made eye contact with Riko, but then she looked away, the woman's pretty smile seemed to dim. She seemed to look almost afraid...

When the bell rang Riko stood up and started to leave, relieved that she had been mostly ignored. As Riko walked she plotted, coming up with ways to avoid the class forever was halfway out the door, and halfway through a brilliant plan to hang out on the school's roof during first period, when someone suddenly wrapped their arms around her waist. Riko squeaked in surprise before looking over her shoulder, wide eyed, with a growing sense of irritation, only to see that it was Mitsuki, the brunette had an excited smile on her face.

"So, what's your next class?" She asked, Riko wondered if Mitsuki knew what personal boundaries were as she pulled out her schedule.

"Math," Riko answered as she looked down and tried to unlatch Mitsuki's arms from around her waist.

"Hmmm." Mitsuki looked at the schedule still in Riko's hand, either ignoring or not noticing Riko's attempts to get free. "My next class is in that direction, want me to walk with you?" Mitsuki offered with a sweet smile.

"I'm good," Riko answered, her voice completely flat, "Now... would you please let me go?" It seemed that the brunette had no intention of doing so, Riko finally just started walking, girl accessory and all. Now that they were moving the girl unwrapped herself from around Riko and started talking.

"This wing is made specifically for dance and Physical education classrooms. We don't have a gym so sports are held on the grounds outside." As Mitsuki gave Riko a rundown of where which classes were, Riko stared ahead of her, her expression void of emotion. There was no point to trying to get this girl to go away, so Riko just ignored her. Well she tried to anyway.

Anytime it seemed to Mitsuki that Riko was zoning out or tuning her out, she would suddenly grab Riko's arm tugging on her in a friendly manner. Riko growled slightly but managed to not turn her head and bite the happy girl.

Honestly by the time Mitsuki announced they were at Riko's math class, Riko felt like patting herself on the back for restraining herself.

"Hey, I'll meet you out here when you're class is done alright?" Mitsuki finally said.

"You don't have to-" Riko started, but Mitsuki was already skipping away, humming to herself. Riko could only stare at her in disbelief. What had she just dealt with. She couldn't tell if Mitsuki was really just a happy angel or was actually a disguised demon. For all Riko knew, Mitsuki could be like her brother… Riko sighed before stepping into her class, her eyes shifting around to take in the surroundings, it was a standard classroom, lines of desks, people already sitting around, chatting about this and that. After the PE incident, Riko half expected to walk in to see the math students doing headstands or baking, but no, everything looked normal so far. Riko sighed softly, slowly she moved to a desk in the back of the classroom. This school was different from her old one, not only was it casual dress, but the students traveled to different classes instead of the teachers. It was odd, but a bit refreshing, Riko didn't have to worry about her legs going numb after every class this way.

"Hey!" a voice startled Riko out of her thoughts, slowly she looked up through annoyed eyes to see a blonde girl standing by her proclaimed seat. Two other girls stood nearby, their arms folded in exact replica of the blonde, Riko looked to them in disbelief. Was there seriously a posse of girls who thought they owned the world.

"What?" Riko asked flatly, The main girl tipped her head to the side, her steely eyes glared at Riko openly.

"What do you mean, what? You stole my seat bitch," The girl said angrily, the other two nodded in agreement.

"Oh boy..." Riko heard a male voice mutter, Riko's eyes narrowed before looking up at the girl without moving.

"I don't see your name on it," Riko answered calmly, the blonde girl seemed to grow agitated at this.

"You must be new," she said shortly,,

"What if I am?" Riko countered, the blonde girl's eyes narrowed before she leaned forward, so that her breath hit Riko full in the face.

"Well then listen well newbie," the girl said in a low voice, "This school? My town, what I say goes, and if I say that is my seat? Then that's my seat. Get the picture?" Riko only stared at her boredly. Yup… this was a posse alright.

"Your breath smells like fish," she said honestly, the blonde reared back, her face flushing a bright red as she threw a hand over her mouth.

"Wh- Why you little...!" The girl began, her eyes growing angry, one of the guys tried to hide a laugh behind his hand, he had clearly overheard What Riko said. The blonde girl whipped her head to look back at him angrily and he silenced himself quickly. The blonde turned to Riko again, looking ready to explode, when.

"Alright Sayuki take a seat, we're about to start," A handsome man said as he entered the classroom. Riko looked to him curiously, he hadn't even glanced at the two of them when he had entered, so how did he...? The blonde girl, Sayuki, seemed to blush harder before plopping herself down in the seat closest to her… Right next to Riko. Riko groaned softly as she was surrounded by the other two as well. Riko looked over her new math teacher as he wrote some things on the board, she couldn't help but wonder if all the teachers at this school were freaking good looking. With a quick glance at Sayuki's bright red face and her focused eyes on the desktop in front of her, Riko figured she noticed the math teacher's good look's as well.

A small smirk made it on her face. So the bully had a crush on the math teacher… Nice. Riko sighed softly as she played with her hair, this was going to be

a boring class…

**Soooooo I'm not dead. **

**I'm also starting to write again. **

**I'm going to try and update a few of these stories: Dewdrops on Roses, Scarlet Autumn, and the Twelve Days of Christmas. I also plan to finish The Devil's Eye.  
Thank you all for being so patient with me. And I'm really sorry that its taken me so many years to get back on my feet. Love you all**

**-Esther**


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